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The Common App is a popular platform that thousands of students use each year to apply to colleges and universities in the US as well as some international schools. The Common App is accepted by over 900 institutions, as outlined in this post here, but there are still some institutes that don't accept the Common App and instead require students to directly apply using the college or university's website. This post is here to give you a list of schools that don't accept the Common App so you can plan your college applications accordingly.
Which Colleges Don’t Accept the Common App?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): Has its own application portal.
Georgetown University: Has its own application portal.
University of California (UC) system: This consists of Universities such as UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UCSB, UCSC, UCSD, UC Merced, and UC Riverside. Students will need to complete the UC application to apply to any of the UCs.
California State University (CSU) system - This differs from the UC system outlined above. Schools in the CSU system evaluate applications through the Cal State Apply platform.
Although the above institutes are the main schools that don't accept the Common App, it is important to check your intended colleges' status on the Common App each year as many institutes join/leave the Common App platform from year to year. For example, the University of Florida used to not accept applications through Common App in the past, but they do accept the Common App at present. Similarly, many other schools may or may not be on the Common App in a given year, so it is your responsibility to check whether the colleges you intend to are affiliated with the Common App or not. If they are not, make sure you apply directly through the college's website.
We hope this guide has helped you identify the colleges that don't accept the Common App. Good luck with your college applications!
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